How difficult would it be to perform a graded nursing skill but, you just cannot recall the table set. A table set up can make or break a successful skills check off. Nursing students tend to be very visual learners. We ask them to perform numerous basic skills in the Practical Nursing Program and I have found through review from the feedback, using various different formats, that taped video skills and table set ups together are a catalyze to increased student satisfaction and to better course persistence/retention rates. My redo rates have dropped consistently over the past two years. I asked myself what does visual learning have to offer my nursing skills students. It helped my students to organize and analyze information and to incorporate new knowledge with what they already know. They can revisit the information over and over allowing them more than one viewing. It is important to me that my students not only perform the skills accurately but, that they also understand the why behind what they are doing. Another words, what is the rationale or critical thought behind that skill set. The brain has a strong capacity for images, visual learning strategies has helped my students better understand and retain needed information in the lab setting and more importantly in the clinical setting. Pictures really are worth a thousand words.

I am teaching an entire room full of returning students entering into the Practical Nursing Program. That means yes, they have all been successful already. They all have acquired years of work experience and great healthcare stories to share in the classroom. They are VERY excited to be back at NWTC and let me share with you why.

Clinical simulation as we all already know in nursing has become increasingly popular and valuable to nurse educators. Incorporating teaching and learning strategies that enhance a learner’s self-achievement is a win-win experience. Could this experience of having Practical Nursing students go to the simulation lab and perform what we refer to as a, “Day 1 Assessment Experience” at the start of their clinical make a difference to our learners? My personal hope was that this could improve the theory to practice gap, enhance our learner’s self-achievements and overall clinical competence will be improved.